


Deception

by Pdeter_Pdarker



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But its worth it I swear, Canon Compliant, Don't worry, F/M, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), I almost puked five times writing it, I am writing my ass off, I had to do it to em, I'm Sorry, Keith is big homo, Keith loves Lance, Lance is a disaster Bi, M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Season 8 works fast but I work faster, This is really just me taking out my anxiety for season 8, This will be completed before season 8 I promise, allurance date, for now, kick kick bitch, lance loves keith, nothing too serious though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 05:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16968240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pdeter_Pdarker/pseuds/Pdeter_Pdarker
Summary: Lance is absolutely ecstatic when things start finally going right with the princess, since their return to earth it seems as though he actually might have a shot with the girl of his dreams. She even said yes to a date with him! However, as the day approaches things get a little complicated when he has a few awkward encounters withKeithof all people. When his big date doesn't go quite as planned it leaves him questioning if Allura is truly right for him. Which is coincidentally when they receive a distress signal from Shiro.Something is wrong with Keith.-Basically I don't trust season 8 as far as I can throw it so I am writing it myself before it comes out





	Deception

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Is everyone as stressed for season 8 as I am? Good!! 
> 
> Shoutout to my wonderful beta reader nintendosgreen, thanks for keeping this mess of a fic at least mostly coherent

They were just inches apart now, her arms resting over top of his, eyes studying every detail of his face, seemingly even more iridescent in the moonlight, the tinges of blue as deep as the ocean, pinks as radiant as diamonds and purples light as lilac, meeting together in some sort of divine combination. He knew what was supposed to happen now, he could see the tension in her face. A look of lust, of longing, of _anticipation,_ of _wanting_.

He had been waiting for this moment for so long.

When Lance was in the Garrison, he had been assigned a project on circuit boards in first year. He remembered ever so carefully selecting alligator wires and attaching them to certain points and making sure batteries were in their holders correctly. _Negative to positive to positive to negative._ Completing a circuit that would light up a bulb, or start a small motor.

In that moment, time seemingly frozen outside under the silent stars, he had become the circuit board. He could feel electricity thrumming under his skin, as though there was something rooted in his core conducting it. He just had to move in a little closer, close the space between them and he would complete the circuit, the bulb would go off, it had too, _he needed the bulb to go off._

So he made a move, he tilted his head ever so slightly to close the space and she did the same, they both paused for a moment. 

Allura was beautiful underneath the moonlight, Lance decided, the way the light reflected off her ostensibly limitless hair, the glow of the atmosphere dancing, almost absorbing into it creating a mesmerising tint. Her aroma was rolling off as if it was as certain as waves crashing onto the shore. Hints of juniberries, a quality of almost citrus, notes of vanilla, and something that he couldn’t quite place but was so _Allura_ it made his chest ache. 

That was the scent that he could distinguish when he first landed in space, a scent he could trace back to the stars, to the limitless of the universe, to nights spent awake enraptured in wishful thinking, to the feeling of jealousy, the feeling of floating, the feeling of heartbreak. They were both very different from when Lance had first rescued Allura from her ten thousand year sleep. They had grown, changed, and experienced such different emotional hardships and yet here they were. _Finally_ in eachothers arms, together underneath the millions of stars, faces just inches apart. Lance could feel her breath against his lips, brushing against them like the slightest warm breeze on a hot summer's day. He just had to move in, it wouldn’t even take a second and their lips would be against each others, he _wanted_ that, more than anything.

Her eyes flicked down to his lips and then back up again.

He was frozen to the spot.

_I really hope she makes you happy, Lance._

He kicked himself mentally, blaming it on the nerves from being in this close proximity to the girl of his _dreams._ He just had to man up and do it, counting down in his head from _three, two-_

Allura was shifting her face upwards before Lance had the chance to mentally prepare himself, her eyes falling shut, a hand tracing up his back and falling gently across the back of his head, fingers tangling into his hair, tugging him gently towards her. 

His brain seemed to misfire, which was so strange. It wasn’t like he hadn’t kissed girls before. Heck, he was a major ladies’ man back at the Garrison, someone new was interested in him practically every other week. 

So why was this time so different? 

Objectively he knew what he should be doing, _his eyes should be closed, he should reach an arm to her back to bring them closer together, cup her face in his hand._ However, the message seemed to get lost in translation from _think about the things you should be doing_ to _actually do them._

He hastily registered closing his eyes when their lips met each other’s, his world fading out into a flurry of feelings.

None of which he had ever associated with a kiss before.

First his stomach bottomed out, sank right down through his shoes and into the ground below him, and then everything went numb. He barely registered Allura leaning further into the kiss, barely even remembered he was still kissing her, the world seemed to fade out in the worst way possible and then came back full force.

All he could do was remember.

He remembered how much he liked her in the beginning, remembered how jealous he was when he saw her with other guys. 

Then he remembered Lotor, he remembered watching her fall in love with somebody else, remembered the jealousy, then the heartbreak, remembered crying about it knowing that if her choice was to be with Lotor he had to accept it. Then he remembered the acceptance that came with it, acceptance that Allura wasn’t right for him, that he wasn’t right for her. Something that he had -in a sad way- always known.

But then she had finally showed some interest in him back on earth. She saved his life, started returning his gazes at her. She had even come to wish him good luck with a telltale blush ridden high on her cheekbones, something he hadn’t even noticed until Veronica had pointed it out to him. So he dove into it, let it consume him, turned on his _loverboy Lance_ to the fullest, and to his great surprise, _she played into it._

She came to thank him when they were in the hospital for the flowers and note that he had sent to her, she would giggle at his jokes, she would playfully bump his shoulders in meetings when they got to be long and boring. He was positive that she was flirting with him, and so he _knew_ that he had to ask her out. 

So began his fervent planning, not wanting to wait for too long to ask but ensuring he had just enough time to plan out every meticulous detail. Hunk had been a godsend in the process, making sure he didn’t go too overboard while still keeping a perfect amount of loverboy Lance flare in the plans.

A week before the big day, he and Hunk were in the common area of the Garrison that the staff had reserved for the paladins of Voltron and their families. Lance was sprawled across the couch, lying on his back, one leg dangling over the edge and resting on the floor while the other laid across Hunk’s lap who was sitting beside him.

“Okay, so we’ll start out at my place, she’s already agreed to come over for a family dinner. My mama will whip up something extra fancy, _Mclain style_ of course,” He waved an arm through the air for extra emphasis. “And then I was thinking maybe we could hop in Red and jet over to Cuba, it’ll take like, what? A minute at most? And we can walk along the beach, go visit my old house where I grew up. Then, I’ll wait until the time is just perfect underneath all the stars and slowly, gently, go in for the best ki-”

He was interrupted by the door to the common area sliding open and someone walking in. He sat up fast and alert to see if it was Allura, but his shoulders slumped in relief seeing that it was just Keith. Hunk also turned at the sudden interruption and his face lit up.

“Hey Keith! We we were just talking about Lance’s date with a certain princess coming up. You wanna help us plan?” Hunk waggled his eyebrows and patted the couch beside him as a welcoming gesture. 

Keith went rigid and Lance could have sworn that there was a blush tinged on his cheeks, he shifted uncertainty from foot to foot, before coughing out an “Uh, sure… I mean, yeah. I guess?” He started to move towards the couch.

Lance whirred around and gave Hunk a look that he hope conveyed the message of _seriously, dude??_

He did _not_ need Keith’s help with planning his date, he was perfectly fine with it just being Hunk and him, thank you very much. He didn’t want Keith knowing all the intimate details of how his was planning to finally win over Allura, he didn’t want him that far into his love life, didn’t need him knowing about how much he liked her. He’d probably just make fun of him anyways, tell him how he was doing it wrong, what he could improve. No way, Lance did not want that, Lance’s feelings towards Allura should stay between him, Allura, and Hunk.

Not Keith. 

The only condolence Hunk offered was a sorry look and a shrug when Keith sat down beside him. Lance turned forward, sitting properly on the couch and crossed his arms letting out a huff of frustrated air. 

Hunk shifted anxiously beside him, “So, uh, we were just talking about how Lance was going to take her for a walk on Varadero beach, and maybe,” Hunk leaned towards Keith and changed his tone to a stage whisper. “Kiss her under the stars.”

Keith shifted uncomfortably at that, his hands making fists on his lap. He let out a short, almost strangled “Oh.” That’s tone turned up at the end, passing as a very unconvincing question.

Lance felt a pang of embarrassment run through him and turned away as he felt his cheeks go red, he threw his arms up into the air. “No we weren’t, I-I never said that!”

Hunk, seemingly oblivious to Lance’s _please stop talking now_ hint, just rambled on. “Sorry, my bad. Lance was _about_ to tell me, see you came in right before he got there but he was just saying how he was planning on doing it under the stars-”

Lance cut him off abruptly, face now burning. “Okay, okay! We get it. Can we please stop talking about this now? Please?”

Hunk looked at him bewildered. “What do you mean? You haven’t shut up about Allura for the past hour and now you all the sudden don’t want to talk about it anymore?”

Lance got up to his feet in exasperation “No! I don’t! I don’t want to talk about it with stupid mullet here, I don’t want to hear his stupid criticism, I don’t want to hear him telling me about how I’m doing this all wrong!” _I don’t want him thinking I like Allura-_

 _Wait what the fuck?_

But Keith was on his feet now too, “Of course you’d assume that from me! Why would I be here for any other reason, right? What if I told you that I thought it actually sounded, er, nice.” He scratched the back of his neck and shook his head. “But I guess we still aren’t past this rivalry thing so I’ll go. Have fun with your date planning,” He turned on his feet and stalked out without saying another word.

Lance’s shoulder’s fell for a second in remorse realizing what he had just done. 

Hunk looked over to the door Keith just left out of and back to Lance, concern in his eyes. “Uh, Lance? Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

Lance, huffed again, _how many times did he have to say it?_ “I just didn’t want mullet in my head, like that. It seemed too weird, I don’t want him knowing about that kind of stuff.”

Hunk hesitated before cautiously pushing on. “Okay, but you didn’t have to blow up at him like that. He wasn’t even threatening you in any way.”

Lance scoffed. “Not yet, but trust me, I know Keith. He would have started badgering me about something or other.”

“Lance, I-” Hunk tried to continue before Lance cut him off.

“God, stop! Enough about Keith, I have a date to plan and I _don’t_ want to be thinking about him while I’m doing it.”

Hunk shifted uncertainty as Lance resumed his earlier position sprawled on the couch before he carried on.

\---

The rest of the week had flown by after that small hiccup in the planning and before Lance knew it he was getting ready for his date. Freshly showered, skin glowing, favourite cologne on, he was standing in his room at the Garrison in his underwear. His clothes were sprawled out across his room, trying to decide on the perfect outfit. Half of the stuff he had tried on had immediately been taken off, thrown haphazardly across the floor and the rest was laying on his bed in a heap, he didn’t even know where to start the process of elimination. He was just about to pick up a shirt and a pair of pants when he heard his door whir open behind him. 

Standing in his doorway, looking positively mortified was none other than Keith Kogane. 

“Oh-oh, god. I am so sorry. Oh my god,” He burst out turning immediately away from Lance, staring out into the hallway, his face was beet red.

Similarly Lance burst out at the same time, leaping to grab his towel and attempt to cover up his mostly naked body. “Jesus, mullet! Knock much? What the hell are you doing?”

Keith stuttered, eyes still fixed on the hallway. “I-I just came to give you your training schedule for this week.” His voiced shifted to annoyance, “And I was _trying_ to knock but the door opened as soon as I put my hand on it because _somebody_ didn’t lock it.”

Lance’s face deepened impossibly redder for a second, but he quickly brushed it off. “Well, whatever. You could’ve come at a different time or something.”

Keith turned back to face him at that, looking exasperated but Lance waved him off before he could say anything. “Doesn’t matter,” He paused for a second, him and Keith staring at each other in silence before Lance broke. “Jeez! Get in here and give me my schedule so that my door can close and nobody else sees me standing here in a towel.” 

“Uh, right,” Keith nodded stiffly, taking a couple steps into Lance’s room, his cheeks tinting red again.

“Oh come on,” Lance drew out when Keith didn’t move from where he was situated just barely in the entrance. “I’m not going to bite you, and I’m a little pressed for time here,” He reached out his arm, making a gesture for Keith to come and give him his schedule.

Keith hesitantly walked towards him, handing him the piece of paper and taking survey of his room. 

Lance snatched it out of his hands quickly, and Keith turned to leave however before he could for some ungodly reason Lance’s mouth decided to act before his brain. “Wait,” 

_shit_

Keith turned back to him, expectant look on his face. “Yeah?”

 _No going back now, Lance you idiot._ “I uh, was wondering, if you wouldn’t mind maybe, helping me? With picking out an outfit, I mean?”

Keith looked at him, taken aback for a second.

Lance’s mouth decided to take the lead again. “I mean you don’t have to. It was kind of stupid question, um, I can do this by myself. Yeah, sorry,” He looked up to the ceiling and brought his hand up behind his neck. 

“No, actually,” Keith said, and Lance squeezed his eyes shut, reprimanding his stupid mouth. 

Keith stumbled a bit over his words. “As in, no I don’t mind helping you pick out something to wear. I can uh, do that, if you know…you want me to,” The last part was said in no more than whisper. 

Lance’s heart stopped for a second, mortified at what he had just signed himself up for. Keith? Helping him pick out an outfit? What was he thinking? He was going to go to this date looking like some sort of emo king. Nonetheless, his words seemed to think otherwise. “Okay, yeah. Uh, that would be great because, you know, I have lots of clothes to go through and I’m not even sure where to start and you know this is a _super important date_ like most important one ever, and I have to look my best-”

“I like this,” Keith said in a tone softer and deeper than he had ever heard him use before. When Lance looked over to him he was over at his bedside, holding up one of his jackets. One he had gotten from his mama the last Christmas he had spent on earth, the sleeves were loose and grey around the arms and the the back was a creme colour. He had been waiting for the right occasion to wear it before he was blasted into space. Now seemed like a good a time as any. 

“Yeah, me too,” Lance said back in an equally soft tone, walking over and taking it from Keith’s hands. 

After some deliberation between what colour shirt Lance should wear, _no, he would not wear a red one thank you very much Keith,_ they had pieced together an outfit and Lance went into his bathroom to change, shutting the door _and locking it_ behind him because -just no.

When he emerged fully changed, he did a little strut back into his room. “Well? What do you think mullet?” He said, giving a dramatic spin for emphasis. 

There was a small smile dancing on Keith’s lips. “You look really good Lance,” He hesitated a second. “Just- one thing.” He navigated through the clothes littering the floor over to until there couldn’t have been more than a foot between them. Lance’s heart faltered and Keith took one of Lance’s arms in his. 

Keith’s touch wasn't anything like Lance would have expected it to be. It was so soft and so gentle, as if he thought Lance were made of glass, he couldn’t help the goosebumps that sprouted under his touch. Then Keith delicately took a sleeve of his jacket and rolled it up twice, so if fell midway up his forearm, then just as carefully took the other one and did the same. However, he didn’t let go right away. His hand shifted, taking Lance’s forearm in it, his grip tightening slightly but not uncomfortably, almost in a way that made him want to stay there forever. 

Keith lifted his head to look into Lance’s eyes, he stared back.

There were only inches between their faces. 

Lance had never seen Keith like this, so up close, so vulnerable. He never noticed how truly mesmerizing his amethyst eyes were, impossibly matte under the light -which actually was a bit off putting- but he was too caught up in the ocean of purple to give it too much care. He never noticed how his eyelashes dusted his cheeks everytime he blinked or how the scar on his cheek had very meager jagged edges. He hadn’t noticed just how long his hair had gotten on the years he had spent with his mom on the space whale and he had the impulse to brush it back behind his ears. 

He didn’t however, he just stayed completely still, as if even the slightest movement would break the refuge they had built around them. He watched as Keith’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and looked back up to his eyes, maybe lingering for a second on his lips. 

Keith spoke, so quietly, so softly that Lance could’ve sworn he was talking to a completely different person than the man that stood in front of him. “I really hope she makes you happy, Lance.”

Lance could’ve sworn he heard his voice crack in the last word, but his amethyst eyes were dry as ever. He wasn’t sure what to say and all he made out was a stuttered “I-” before falling silent again. 

Keith didn’t move, neither did he. They just stood in perfect silence, inches between their faces and Lance couldn’t help but feel the pull, the tension, the want to close the distance. 

Keith’s eyes flicked from down to Lance’s lips and back up to his eyes, and at that his heart took off, beating at what had to be at least two hundred beats per minute. Almost involuntarily Lance began moving forward, his hand coming up to rest on Keith’s back, Keith’s hand pulling his other arm up towards his face-

Lance’s phone blared loudly from underneath the pile of clothes on his bed and Keith pulled back abruptly, taking a few steps away and crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Uh, that’s probably Allura,” Lance pathetically blurted out.

“Yeah,” Keith said clearing his throat. 

“I, uh should probably take it.” Lance said again, words leaving his mouth in a flurry, face increasingly becoming what he knew must’ve been an awful shade of crimson. 

“Yeah,” Keith said again, his face not faring much better than Lance’s. “I’ll uh, I’ll leave you to it then,” With that, he turned and left his room without another word.

Lance stared at the door for a second cursing himself because _what the hell was he supposed do with that._ He almost went after Keith before he heard his phone blaring loudly again from his bed and quickly rifled through his clothes to pick it up.

The phone call sure enough was from Allura, wondering where Lance was, because of course Keith had now made him late for his date _with a freakin princess._ He quickly apologized to her and assured her that he was on his way, picking up the flowers that he had bought her earlier that day and heading out the door.

Allura looked absolutely gorgeous, a flowing white dress that fell down midway across her thighs, pink heels on, hair down but the top half pulled around the back of her head like a crown. She was everything that Lance had ever wanted in a girl, beautiful, cunning, smart, strong. That’s what he reminded himself of, walking towards her in the evening light. That this was right, this is what he wanted, what he wanted for so long. _It had to be right._

That much convincing had mostly gotten him through the dinner with his family, he actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Allura had gotten along very well with them, his mother loved her of course, _well yeah, she was a freaking princess._ By the end of the meal it was just Lance, the twins, Allura, and his mom left at the table. His dad and siblings all had various things to do that night.

Nadia and Sylvio absolutely adored Allura, they had taken to putting her hair in as many braids as they could and asking her a million questions a minute. She was doing very well with answering them, exulting a graceful amount of patience and answering every single one with care. 

“So, are you really a real princess?” Nadia asked, face lit up in awe. 

“Yes, I am,” Allura smiled. “I was a princess of a kingdom called Altea which existed many many deca- er, years ago.”

“Why aren’t you still there being a princess now then?” Sylvio asked.

Lance tensed a bit at that question, glancing over to Allura but her face was calm and patient as ever. “Well, the the galra, the same aliens that tried to invade your planet, invaded mine as well and I’m afraid we weren’t as prepared and we didn’t fare as well as yours. Everything on Altea was destroyed. My advisor Coran and I were the only Alteans left by the end,” She faltered for a second. “Or so we thought…” Her sentence trailed off and for the first time that night she looked uncomfortable. Lance caught his mom glance towards Allura and then back to him, then she stood up from the table.

“Well, I think I am going to go and get dessert and make some coffee. Sylvio? Nadia? Would you like to help me?” She said in a way that wasn’t unkind, but left no room for debate.

The twins quickly got up from where they were stood behind Allura, bounding after Lance’s mother chanting “Dessert! Dessert! Dessert!”

Lance looked back at Allura apologetically. “I’m really sorry about that.”

However, Allura just smiled back at him, albeit halfheartedly. “It’s okay Lance, they are still children, there is no way they could have known.”

Lance took her hand in his and squeezed it as his mom and the twins came back into the room, dessert stacked on plates being carried by the twins and a pot of coffee in his mom’s hands. Once everything was set down on the table, Nadia and Sylvio deemed it a priority to inform Allura of everything on it.

“And -and those!” Nadia exclaimed very exberently pointing her finger at the table, from her perch on Alluras lap, “Those are Tío Lancey’s favourite!”

“Yeah!” Sylvio agreed from the chair beside her, “Those are his choco churros!”

Lance very nearly face palmed at that, it was the name he had come up for the chocolate churros him and his mom used to make when he was a kid. He was only realizing now how stupid it sounded. 

Allura bit back a laugh. “I’m sorry choco- what?”

Sylvio and Nadia just laughed as Allura picked one up and put one on her plate.

After that, dessert had gone quite well until the twins had decided to bring up Kosmo. Things went abruptly downhill from there.

The twins were now talking about visiting Lance in the hospital and one time when they were there, Kosmo happened to wander into his room.

“Is that your big space puppy, Miss Allura?” Nadia asked excitedly.

Allura laughed a little, “I’m afraid not unfortunately, that’s Kosmo and he belongs to the paladin of the black lion, Keith.”

Lance groaned inwardly at the mention of his name, Keith was the last thing he wanted to be thinking of right now. 

Nadia didn’t notice of course and just ploughed right on. “Oh, Keith!” She exclaimed, the ‘th’ sound coming out as an ‘f.’ “He’s the one with the purple eyes and the pretty hair! Right, Tío Lance?”

Lance spluttered and could feel his face heat up. “Keith definitely does not have pretty hair! But, uh, yeah, he’s the one that owns Kosmo.”

Sylvio looked delighted at that, “He’s so cool, Tío Lance! I want to pilot the black lion and have a space puppy!”

Nadia spoke with a mouthful of dessert, “Yeah, he is really cool! Tío Lance he should come over for dinner next time. We can braid his hair, too!”

Lance’s face felt like it could probably compete with the surface of the sun. He was not going to think about _Keith_ eating dinner with his _family_ while on a _date_ with. A. Freaking. Space. Princess. 

Apparently though, his lack of an answer did not go unnoticed and everyone at the table, including his mom and Allura, were looking at him. An awkward silence emerged before his mom took a breath in and pushed back from her seat.

“Well, I think that just about does it for dessert. Allura? Would you mind helping the twins put the dishes away? I’d like to speak with Lance for a second.”

“Not at all,” Allura responded, standing up to go to the kitchen while the twins trailed after her, asking a million more questions.

Lance’s mom gestured for him to follow her out to their backyard.

Their new backyard wasn’t nearly as big as the one that they had back in Cuba, but it held some of the familiarity that his old one had. There was a large garden with blossoming fruits and flowers that his dad nurtured meticulously and various toys scattered around, no doubt from Sylvio and Nadia. 

His mom took him out to sit on a swinging bench just like the one they had on their back porch, an environmental so similar yet so different all the same. She took his hand in hers and sighed up towards the night sky before speaking.

 

“Lance, I have raised five children.”

“And did a pretty damn good job at it if you ask me,” Lance said back, playfully nudging his mama’s shoulder.

His mom scoffed and hit the back of his hand gently for saying the word damn, but it had no real bite behind it. “And being a mother, I tend to pick up on things, notice things.”

“Okay?” Lance ventured, uncertainly.

“I’ve noticed that Allura is an incredible girl, she’s very sting and courageous and exceptionally kind,” she hesitated for a moment, “But,”

Lance waited a bit before speaking again, feeling like he wasn’t liking the direction the conversation was heading “But what?”

“I know what heartbreak looks like, Lance.”

It was Lance’s turn to scoff and look at her in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

“Heartbreak, Lance, I’ve seen it on your siblings’ faces before coming back from breakups, I saw it on your papa’s face when we had to leave Cuba...I saw it on my own face when you left for the Garrison,” She paused a moment, blinking away tears, while Lance’s grip on her hand tightened. “And I saw it on Allura’s face tonight at the supper table, when she was talking about the Alteans, there’s an unresolved hurt there, Lance.”

Lance nodded, “Well yeah, she’s still very hurt that her _entire race_ was destroyed, she’s still coming to terms with the fact that there are still some alive, potentially without any guidance.”

His mother shook her head. “No, Lance, that look was of a different heartbreak. It was a loss of something she loved very dearly, very personally.” She paused, “There was someone else before you, wasn’t there?”

Lance waved his hand as though to dismiss her concerns, “Well yeah, I mean there was this guy named Lotor, but he was no good for her, and she’s totally over him. She likes me now.”

His mama nodded. “Very well then, it’s not my place to interfere with your relationships, and I really do think Allura is an outstanding girl. Just...I want you to be careful, if she still needs some time, give it to her.”

Lance swallowed awkwardly and nodded. “Okay mama, I will.”

“Good,” she gave his hand a squeeze. “Also there is one more thing,” she proceeded. 

“Yeah?” Lance asked anxious all over again. 

“I’m not blind Lance, and I know _very_ well what it looks like when you have a crush.”

Lance exclaimed, “Well of course I have a crush on Allura! She’s awesome-“

“Not on Allura,” she interrupted.

“What?” Lance blurted out, “On who then?”

“Keith,” she replied simply.

Lance was completely taken aback. “Wait? Are you serious? On mullet? No way, never in a million years. Why would you even think that? He’s just Keith... I mean sure he does some pretty cool things, like he an awesome swordsman, he could kick anyone's ass any day of the week, and I guess he’s part galra which is kind of cool because it kind of feels like he’s the future, you know? And he did kind of help me prepare for tonight, which was really cool of him, and I kind of got to see a side of him that I never had before…” He trailed off before realizing how much he was running his mouth. “But I don’t like him like that! Just as a friend! That’s it!”

_A friend that you almost kissed_

_Shut up_

His mama looked at him nodding, her mouth coming together to form a line, “Like I said Lance, it’s not my place to tell you how you should live your life. But I know you have a good heart, just promise me you will listen to it. I want your relationships to serve due justice to all people involved and if you truly believe that’s with Allura, then I am behind you. I love you so much, mijo.”

“I love you too, mama,” Lance said and embraced her in a hug, before they broke apart. 

“Well, I believe you still have a date to finish,” his mama winked at him before getting up to walk back inside. 

Lance nodded and laughed in agreeance before getting up to follow her back inside. 

“Is everything alright?” Allura asked, they were holding hands walking towards Red’s hangar about to go back to Cuba.

“Yeah, totally perfectly cool,” Lance said, squeezing her hand and keeping his eyes trained forward, his heart pounding weakly, anxiety settling in his chest. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been back to Cuba since he had been back to earth, it was the very first thing that he did upon being released from the hospital. But all of the sudden it felt much to personal to bring Allura back to where he was raised. It was such an intimate detail, something that gained something worth much more value since being in space. 

Cuba held his childhood, his innocence, it held what was the very core of what made Lance _Lance._ Cuba was where he learned how to swim, where he learned the feeling of standing out in the heated rain, where he learned to share the beach toys with his siblings, where he learned the alphabet on their swinging bench in the summer sun. It was where he learned to walk, the sand on the earth beneath his feet. Cuba held the very fundamentals of himself. Something that he wasn’t sure he was ready to share with Allura.

Time for deliberation however, was long since gone as they boarded Red and he took the pilots seat in the cockpit, lifting off and taking Allura to show her the place he called home. 

He landed Red down on the beach of Varadero, it was dark out, none of the beach vendors lit up selling snacks, no teenagers causing trouble, no kids running around screaming under the stars. 

Cuba had been long since abandoned from when the Galra attacked. 

It was weird seeing a place that was once so lively now so quiet and dark. He felt like no matter how many times he came back, he would never get used to it.

The trees and greenery that used to surround its perimeter had been scorched and were now blackened and dead, something like ash covered the surface of what used to be the fine white sand, buildings had been burnt and were blackened as well, the only thing familiar was the waves on the shore, crashing as certainly as a new day rising. 

Allura took a breath beside him, taking in their surroundings, “Oh Lance,” she spoke barely above a whisper. 

Lance fixed his eyes onto the waves trying to blink tears out of his eyes. “It, uh, used to be a lot different, imagine all those trees bright green, and those buildings lit up and so many people, and beautiful white sand.”

Allura took his hand and squeezed it, looking at the waves as well, “It’s beautiful.”

Lance huffed out a breath, squeezing his eyes shut tight for a couple of seconds. “Well, do you want to go see where I grew up?” He said, hoping his voice sounded lighter than it felt. Allura nodded and he pulled her hand, leading her down a pathway to where his family’s land was. 

His childhood home had been burnt down after the Galra attacked but the land was still there. The trees and grass were just as darkened as the rest of Cuba but there was one thing on the land that still held significance to him. 

He led Allura over to a cobblestone patio, a large tree standing stark and black at the back of it. “I used to have a treehouse in here,” Lance said, blissfully remembering all the times he had shared with his siblings in a world that could have been only created with the brilliant imagination of a child. “We used to play in here all the time, we’d play pirates and princesses,” He laughed at the memory, “Except Veronica and Rachel always wanted to be pirates and no way was Marco or Luis going to fit in any of their dresses, so I always ended up being the princess.” He looked at Allura, “I guess it’s kind of funny that I’m on a date with a princess now.”

Allura flinched slightly at the word date, but she regained her composure fast and gave Lance an almost sad looking smile, “Yes, I suppose it is.” 

She squeezed Lance’s hand before dropping it and walking towards the tree, Lance stayed back in confused curiosity. Then Allura laid both her hands on the surface of the trunk and all of a sudden it was illuminated in a blue glow, she stayed there for several seconds before stepping back, and to Lance’s awe, it had been fully restored to how it once was. The leaves were green and full, the trunk no longer charred black. It was perfect.

Almost too perfect. 

There was no longer the carvings of Lance and all his siblings’ initials around the trunk, no branch broken from where Marco had wandered too far and broken his arm from the fall, no leaves picked off twigs that Rachel would use to make them all crowns. It was restored, but almost in a superficial way that made Lance feel no closer to home.

Maybe Cuba was no longer his home. 

With an ache in his heart, he approached Allura facing her, she turned and then her arms were on top of his and-

Their lips broke apart.

He was sure that the kiss hadn’t lasted longer than five seconds but everything that Lance had felt in those seconds left him feeling no more satisfied. 

The bulb hadn’t went off. 

When he looked down to Allura, he saw the look in her eyes.

It was heartbreak. 

The words his mother told him echoed back to him full force, the feeling in his chest was hollow. He was broken and frustrated. This is what he had wanted for so long! How come he wasn’t feeling anything? This was right, it had to be right, because if it wasn’t, it meant he had to face a truth.

A truth that he had known in his heart since he was a child at the Garrison, a truth that came with indigo eyes and dark hair and gentle touches. A truth that he had suppressed since he was thirteen, one that he had never even acknowledged that was there but could feel all the same.

When he looked back into Allura’s eyes he knew, he knew it wasn’t right but they both had so badly wanted it to be. It was simpler this way, easier, if they convinced themselves of this, it meant that they both didn’t have to face how they truly felt. But he knew they couldn’t, because what kind of future did that offer? A relationship built upon lies? One built on denial and heartbreak? Simply put, it didn’t offer a future, more so a present. A relationship built on fleeting feelings of a moment, of the constant need to focus on a false happiness with the now, rather than look to build each other up for a future together. 

There is no future when you have to lie just for the present to work. 

The look he gave her back convinced him that she knew too.

He pulled back from her embrace, one arm coming in front of him to grab his elbow. “Allura-”

He didn’t get any further however because of both their tablets going off at the same time ringing in the emergency alert tone. 

Lance pulled his out of his pocket at lightning speed, his heart faltering when there was a message from Shiro, big letters displayed across the screen. 

**Something is wrong with Keith. Pidge is coming to your coordinates right now**

Lance looked back at Allura, panic ridden in his chest. Allura looked back at him equally at unease, but there was something knowing in her eyes. 

“You can get back to the Garrison faster with Red,” she said squeezing his hand. 

“Go.”

It was all the permission Lance needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Does it make any sense that they aren't going back to the Garrison together? No! But it's poetic okay? :)))
> 
> Or if you want to say hey before that you can come yell with me on Twitter!
> 
> (Pretty sure that link doesn’t work I’m @chiIdofthevoid come say hey!)


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